Life in the Shadows
by Saerwen
Summary: Inwë, known as Reed, and her family are assassins, doing Master Matsumoto’s bidding. One day, Reed meets a man strangely like herself who shows her a way out of her Life in the Shadows.


Chapter One: Reed

It was a quiet day in Tokyo. Inside the Japonica Inn, the girl Inwë, known as Reed, sat in the room she shared with her family, cleaning and polishing her swords. Although tedious, it was a task she enjoyed. Her quick, nimble fingers picked out and scrubbed away even the tiniest flecks of dirt.

"Inwë!" a faint voice shouted. "Inwë!"

"Coming!" the young girl shouted. She thrust both of her weapons in their sheaths and leaned them against a wall in the corner of the room. She walked through the crowded inn, inching past the people that had come there to eat. At last she came to the front steps.

A beautiful woman in her mid thirties was sitting on the top step, wearing a pink silk kimono. When Reed came beside her, the woman gracefully stood and turned to face Reed.

"Good morning Inwë, my daughter," Shizuko Toshio, Reed's mother, said quietly in her soft, soothing voice.

"Good morning mother," Reed said, her voice just as quiet. Although they probably didn't need to be quiet, it was a habit. When your family consists of assassins, anything anyone overhears may lead to your death.

Reed grimaced. "Mother, couldn't you please use my nickname?" she asked. "It's a very unusual name, and I don't want anyone to remember it if they hear you calling me that. And I'm known as Inwë by a tad bit too many people…."

Shizuko, seemingly ignoring the question, made a comment. "You look more and more like me every day!" she proclaimed.

Reed blushed. "Mama!" she cried, her voice still soft. She admired everything about her mother and was embarrassed by the unexpected praise.

"Well, it's true," Shizuko pointed out. And it was. Mother and daughter shared the same long, wavy black hair and willowy figure, although Reed was in better shape and had more muscles. They both had creamy brown skin and large eyes framed by thick lashes in a face with a delicate nose and high cheekbones. The only difference was that while Shizuko's eyes were deep brown, Reed's were gold shot through with bright green. Everyone from the Toshio family bloodline shared that same strange eye color.

Suddenly, Shizuko frowned. "In- I mean Reed, why are you wearing your brother's old clothing?"

Reed blushed again. "Papa said I could," she replied.

"You should be wearing your kimonos, or at least something proper!"

"But Mother, it's easier to fight this way!!!"

"Oh, pish-posh," Shizuko snapped. "You shouldn't even be fighting in the first place!"

Reed sighed. Although she loved her mother very much, there were some things that she didn't understand. The biggest one was her interest in fighting. Although all of the Toshio men fought, none of the women did: until Reed came along. When she was born, an old fortuneteller was in the birth room. Watzu, Reed's father, enjoyed telling the story to his daughter when she was younger.

"The old woman pointed at you and your mother," Watzu told a wide-eyed 4-year-old Reed. "And said: 'The fate of this family lies upon a little girl with golden green eyes and a fire in her spirit. Let her fight. She is not a delicate one.' And then she died. A few days later, we got a mysterious package, containing a sword. Your sword. And it's been with you ever since."

"Mama," Reed said suddenly. "Do you remember when Taro went to Kyoto on that… um… job a little while ago?" Taro was Reed's 20-year-old brother. "And he almost got killed by that red-haired samurai?"

Shizuko frowned. "Yes, but I don't know what that has to do with you wearing _that_." She gestured.

Reed winced. "Well, you see, he said that there was this woman, Kaoru something or another, wearing this sort of stuff, and fighting alongside the men, and, well…." She plucked at her sleeve. "I thought it might be a good idea. I asked Papa, and he had some of Taro's old clothing cut down to my size." She crossed her fingers behind her back. She had first cut the clothing down to size herself, and then asked her father. He had grudgingly agreed, because he thought his wife had agreed to it first.

Shizuko pursed her lips. "Please tell me Ki isn't wearing that too," she said dryly.

Reed giggled and shook her head. Kiyama, or Ki, her 16-year-old sister, was a very proper young Japanese woman. She had once said that she would never be caught dead with a sword in her hand or anything but kimono's on.

"And it _is_ a lot easier for me to fight in this… too…." Reed trailed off at the end, catching her mother's glare. She ducked her head sheepishly. Cool fingers slid under her chin. Shizuko gently lifted her daughter's face.

"It is your fate," Shizuko said softly, searching Reed's green and gold eyes with her own dark ones. "It is your fate to be in the middle. Not quite warrior, but not a maiden either…." There was a long silence.

"Now then, enough of that," Shizuko said briskly. "The reason I called you here s that your father wants to see you when he gets 'back from market' with Taro." In Reed's family, when you 'went to market' you were usually going to see a Master. Generally Master Matsumoto, the leader of them all.

Reed nodded her understanding to her mother and skipped back into her room in the inn. She sat down in the corner again and picked up her swords to finish polishing them.

Reed looked lovingly at her two swords. They were both very precious to her, for two completely different reasons.

One was the sword given to her by the old fortune teller at her birth. On the golden hilt, printed in silver, was her name, InwëToshio. The blade was extremely sharp, as Reed had learned from experience (a very _painful_ experience) and was very well made.

Reed gingerly gave her birth sword a last going over with a soft cloth cloth to make it shine, and then completely ruined her hard work by wrapping the hilt with a worn piece of leather. If she left her sword uncovered though, someone may see her name on the hilt. She slid the sword into its' sheath that was made to fit easily in the folds of her clothing. Since carrying swords was outlawed, it _really_ came in handy sometimes.

Reed's other sword, on the other hand, was very different. It was the first sword Reed had ever made, and it was her pride and joy. Unlike her other one, this weapon was battered and very poorly made. Reed had scratched her nickname deep into the hilt, so it would always be marked as hers. The biggest difference between the two swords was the blade. Reed's birth sword was a katana. The sword Reed hand crafted was a reverse blade, with the sharp edge on the inside of the curve. She hadn't meant to do it, but when she was forging the sword, Reed did it incorrectly, and didn't realize until it was too late.

When she was finished polishing the sword, she carefully wrapped another piece of leather around the hilt of the weapon.

Maybe I'm being too cautious wrapping up the hilts like this, Reed thought ruefully. But cautious is better than dead.

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Hey ya'll! This is my first ever shot at a Rurouni Kenshin fanfic, so be nice! I assure you, the first chapter is always the boring one. It gets much more exciting after this.

Ja ne!! Review plz!!


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